Pile-up reduces M4 to standstill

SEVERE tailbacks stretched along both directions of the M4 after a multiple vehicle collision at around midday yesterday.

Both the eastbound and westbound carriageways between Junction 16 for Swindon West and Junction 17 for Chippenham were closed for around an hour while emergency services attended the scene of the five-car pile-up.

Shortly before 11am, two cars, a Ford Focus and a Skoda Fabia, had collided in the wet and slippery conditions, and the vehicles immediately behind were unable to avoid ploughing into the back of them.

Heavy delays had a knock-on effect to surrounding areas, particularly Royal Wootton Bassett following the closure of Dauntsey Bridge.

One woman, who had been trapped in her car, managed to extricate herself and was taken to the Royal United Hospital in Bath for treatment.

Fortunately there were no serious injuries other than a group of walking wounded.

Three ambulances attended the scene along with police, who closed the road for around an hour for the recovery operation.

A spokesman for the South-Western Ambulance Service said: “We were called to a multiple car road traffic collision between Junctions 16 and 17 on the M4 at 10.53am.

“We dispatched three ambulances, and discovered a female who had suffered stomach and back injuries, and was taken to RUH in Bath for treatment.

“There were three other casualties, who were walking wounded. Two of them were taken to Great Western Hospital in Swindon to make sure they were ok.

“We left the scene at around 12.25pm, after around an hour and a half.”

Wiltshire Police remained at the scene while the cars were removed from the stretch of motorway after all the casualties had been dealt with.

A spokesman for Wiltshire Police said: “The crash was originally a two vehicle road traffic collision with a few other cars becoming involved afterwards.”

One lane of the M4 remained closed until 12.30pm for the recovery of the Ford Focus by around 1pm.

Comments

LordCharles
7:01pm Sat 26 Apr 14

"and the vehicles immediately behind were unable to avoid ploughing into the back of them." Yes they were but as usual they were tailgating. I stopped in good time because I was two chevrons away from a crashed car and several rammed me from behind.

"and the vehicles immediately behind were unable to avoid ploughing into the back of them." Yes they were but as usual they were tailgating. I stopped in good time because I was two chevrons away from a crashed car and several rammed me from behind.LordCharles

"and the vehicles immediately behind were unable to avoid ploughing into the back of them." Yes they were but as usual they were tailgating. I stopped in good time because I was two chevrons away from a crashed car and several rammed me from behind.

Score: 12

greenpacer
2:15am Sun 27 Apr 14

Yes typical too many bad drivers on the road. I had an idiot overtake me in my van on my way home from work on Friday .Racing past me on right then inside past a car and back over to the right hand lane again eventually racing across the roundabout still at high speed !! This was on Great Western Way between Barnfield and the Meads roundabouts' I was just reaching 45mph the limit 50mph. And they never think of the consequences do they. ? I was stuck in a queue a couple of weeks back due to an accident on this road. Let's have some police patrols or something really serious is going to happen here too !

Yes typical too many bad drivers on the road. I had an idiot overtake me in my van on my way home from work on Friday .Racing past me on right then inside past a car and back over to the right hand lane again eventually racing across the roundabout still at high speed !! This was on Great Western Way between Barnfield and the Meads roundabouts' I was just reaching 45mph the limit 50mph. And they never think of the consequences do they. ? I was stuck in a queue a couple of weeks back due to an accident on this road. Let's have some police patrols or something really serious is going to happen here too !greenpacer

Yes typical too many bad drivers on the road. I had an idiot overtake me in my van on my way home from work on Friday .Racing past me on right then inside past a car and back over to the right hand lane again eventually racing across the roundabout still at high speed !! This was on Great Western Way between Barnfield and the Meads roundabouts' I was just reaching 45mph the limit 50mph. And they never think of the consequences do they. ? I was stuck in a queue a couple of weeks back due to an accident on this road. Let's have some police patrols or something really serious is going to happen here too !

Score: 5

mrwoo
9:51am Mon 28 Apr 14

LordCharles wrote…

"and the vehicles immediately behind were unable to avoid ploughing into the back of them." Yes they were but as usual they were tailgating. I stopped in good time because I was two chevrons away from a crashed car and several rammed me from behind.

rammed from behind! haha

[quote][p][bold]LordCharles[/bold] wrote:
"and the vehicles immediately behind were unable to avoid ploughing into the back of them." Yes they were but as usual they were tailgating. I stopped in good time because I was two chevrons away from a crashed car and several rammed me from behind.[/p][/quote]rammed from behind! hahamrwoo

LordCharles wrote…

"and the vehicles immediately behind were unable to avoid ploughing into the back of them." Yes they were but as usual they were tailgating. I stopped in good time because I was two chevrons away from a crashed car and several rammed me from behind.

Ipsoregulated

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